Heirtzler et al. [1968] used magnetic anomalies along a single South Atlantic ship's track to compile a Late Cretaceous-Quaternary polarity timescale. Ages were extrapolated from the Gauss/Matuyama boundary at 3.40 Ma. Subsequent polarity timescales [e.g. LaBrecque et al., 1976; Berggren et al., 1985] involved improved age control and minor modifications of the Heirtzler et al. [1968] polarity pattern. Cande and Kent [1992a] made a systematic study of global oceanic magnetic anomalies and produced a composite record, optimized to be a constant spreading rate record by minimizing apparent spreading rate changes. The South Atlantic was again used as the template for the record with insertion of short polarity chrons recognized at faster spreading centers. Low amplitude anomalies, interpreted either as very short duration polarity chrons (``cryptochrons'') or as paleointensity fluctuations [ Cande and Kent, 1992b], are included in the record.